


the lionesses den

by broyals



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Raven Cycle Fusion, Character Death, F/F, Lesbian Piper McLean, M/M, Magical Realism, Mitchell is trans here because My Canon Now, Suicide Attempt, also we're throwing greek mythology out the window oop, no beta we die like men, the work is heavily based on trc although there are a few differences, wlw, you don't have to know trc to understand it i think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2020-10-03 20:35:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20459087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broyals/pseuds/broyals
Summary: Piper is six the first time she hears the story of Circe's Isle, at the time filled with wonder at the thought of a place purely for ethereal magic. When she is seventeen, her search for the isle has become far more than a hope for the place of fairytales.





	1. PIPER

**Author's Note:**

> special thanks to sam skygemshubby for helping out w the title!

One could say it starts when she’s six, listening intently to her mother. This is the first time Piper Mclean hears the story.

Herself and her siblings sit huddled around their mother, Aphrodite, as she tells a story, one the rest of them appear to have heard before although Piper has not. Aphrodite’s voice, sweet as honey, fills the spacious room far more than the shelves stacked with perfumes and accessories ever could.

“There was a woman, once,” Her mother tells the five children. Piper isn’t paying attention at first as her and Liz, one of her siblings, roll a green ball to each other. It’s tiny and bouncy and Piper can’t remember where they got it from but she adores it. Had she looked around, she’d have noticed all of her siblings were paying as little attention as her. Aphrodite looks at her distracted children and does not care as she continues, “She defied the gods.”

This is what catches Piper’s attention and her eyes snap towards her mother in wonder. It was not rare for Aphrodite to speak of gods, of beings beyond what they could ever be. In the stories, they were always ethereal and untouchable, their authority undeniable, so the existence of a tale in which someone opposed them was a wonderous thing.

“She didn’t agree with their insistence to be the only ones with gifts, so she found a way to replicate them. Witchcraft. Of course, this had existed for ages before she arrived, but it was a doctrine taught only to the gods’ proteges and descendants. She found a way regardless, and she made her own enchantments and gifts from scratch, she learned how to heal without medicine. And she taught others what she’d discovered in her very own isle, where people came from all over to be taught by her. Her name was Circe, and the gods were not happy with her at all.

“Circe didn’t care about that, though, she just continued to teach the girls that arrived at Circe’s Isle, gave them a home. Eventually, a man who was the son of a god stumbled upon her place, and as he offended the girls, Circe turned him into a pig. This is what brought punishment to her, and soon all the apprentices were gone and her isle was unfindable. No one would learn the gods’ secrets again, and no one would interact with she who had taught them either.”

Aphrodite’s story comes to an end, and she goes back to fixing her eyeliner in the mirror as her children just entertain themselves with each other. All except Piper, who is still focused on her mother as she waits for some form of continuation to the story. That can not be the end! How is it that Circe’s story had carried on? Is it really impossible to find her?

“What is it? Do you want me to teach you?” It is not Aphrodite who speaks up as she noticed Piper still staring, but instead Silena, at nine the oldest of her siblings. She’s always really nice to Piper. 

“Huh?” Piper asks, not quite understanding the question. 

Silena giggles, “Do you want to learn how to do make-up? Mom says I’m a good learner, I might be a good teacher too!”

“Mom is lying to you because you’re her favorite,” Drew butts in, seven years old and convinced she needs to earn her place.

Silena frowns, “No, she’s not, Drew.”

“Yes, she is!”

“No, she’s not!”

“Will you two stop fighting? We’re supposed to be in a peaceful environment.” Aphrodite says annoyance as their voices grow louder, not even looking over to the pair. 

Both girls frown and side-eye each other but stop arguing. 

Piper looks at her mother, ethereal and unreachable like the gods from her stories, and decides she doesn’t want to spend all her time being boring and putting lines on her face, so she scrunches up her face when Silena offers teaching her again and shakes her head, which seems to offend Silena as she walks away and starts playing with Lacy, five years old and Liz’s twin. 

Liz just starts throwing the green ball at her again and Piper laughs as she rolls it back to the younger one. Drew is huffing at all of them but eventually she joins the pair in green ball throwing, even laughing with the other two. 

It is then that the new maid, the really nice one with long straight black hair and warm brown eyes, peeks her head into the room and looks directly at Piper with a smile.

“Your father is here,” She says and Piper immediately gets up, throwing a Bye! towards the rest before her mother stops her.

“Are you really going to leave without giving your mom a proper goodbye?” She says.

Piper sighs and walks back, giving her mother hug and an “I’ll miss you, mom” before walking back towards the door.

“Byebye, Pipes!” Lacy calls after her and Liz echoes her and then the door shuts behind Piper and the nice maid.

The two walk towards the giant house’s entrance (really, her mother’s house is enormous, even bigger than her dad’s) where Tristan Mclean awaits them, a pleasant smile on his face.

“Did you have a fun time?” He asks his daughter once the two of them are back in the car, and Piper hums in confirmation, her mind still lost in her mother’s story.

That night, she dreams of Circe’s Isle, of learning magic and conquering gods (or maybe unavailable mothers) with it. 

“Are we there yet?” Piper hears Leo Valdez, her best and oldest friend (which is not to say they’ve been friends for very long, just that Piper is not very good at maintaining friendships), ask.

It is Jason Grace, the boy at the wheel and newest addition to their group, who responds, “It’s been two minutes.”

He is the strangest member of their group, mainly because of how not strange he is. Or, well, appears to be, as no normal person would hang out looking for a magic island to get a wish. 

Leo groans and throws his head back onto the seat, his curls being squished behind him. 

A laugh comes from the front seat, besides Jason, and Piper can see the fourth group member’s hand gesturing in the air. 

“Patience, Leo,” The laughing girl says, and Jason suddenly looks at her then back at the road in a quick motion.

“Have you been there the whole time?” He asks, sounding bewildered.

He is the only one unsettled by Hazel Levesque’s sudden appearance in the car, as the other two learned long ago of the young girl’s uncanny ability to make herself go unnoticed until she speaks. It is nearly impossible to see her sneaking up on you. Nearly, thinks Piper, because she is determined to someday catch her in the act.

“Of course, silly,” Comes Hazel’s reply, “I am never not-here.”

Jason lets out air through his nose and Piper resists the urge to laugh at the clear sign of confusion. He will have to get used to Hazel eventually as well, after all, she’s an essential part of their little group. 

“Are we there yet?” Leo asks again, leaning forward as he gazes at Jason in search for an answer.

“Nope.”  
The curly haired boy pouts, “I wish we could, like, fly there or something.”

Jason’s hands tighten around the steering wheel, “It’s a fifteen minute drive.”

“It would be ten minutes if you’d just drive faster,” Leo remarks. 

“I’m on the speed limit, Valdez,” Jason’s voice sounds tight and unsure as it often does when talking about going against what’s set, as if breaking rules was the worst thought in the world. It’s probably why him and Leo sometimes clash, although Piper herself does not have much respect for guidelines so it only makes half sense.

“There’s nobody around,” Leo points out. 

Jason doesn’t reply and continues to drive at the exact same speed as Leo just gives a sigh and settles back onto his seat. 

Hazel hums along to the song playing on the radio, a tune Piper can’t name but knows she’s heard before, perhaps simply from Hazel. It’s soft but loud, and it stands somewhere between a chant and golden era Broadway. Piper hates it but Hazel has the kind of smile on her face that reminds Piper of just how young she is so she can’t bring herself to change the station. 

Before she realizes it, they have arrived at their destination, the smell of the sea stronger than ever as three of the group step onto the port while Jason goes park the car. 

Leo looks around, then back at Piper, “So, why did you bring us out here again?”

Piper raises an eyebrow, an ability it took her way more time than she’d be willing to admit to master, then looks out to the sea, “Maybe I just wanted to surf.”

“It’s a port, not a beach,” Leo points out.

Hazel smiles as she walks around a bit, “The view’s pretty.”

Leo makes a noise that sounds like disagreement, and Piper gives him a look, “Didn’t you say you liked the beach?”

“Yes. The beach, with sand and sand castles and the possibility of standing at the edge of the sea without going in just for the breeze. This is a port. No sand,” Leo glares at the sea as if it were its fault that the place doesn’t fulfill his expectations, “Besides, we’ve been here a thousand times.”

Piper shrugs, knowing the place might get tired after a while with no results, as much as she still loves it.

Jason finally joins them, his hands stuffed into his pockets, “So, Piper, what are we doing here?”  
Piper smiles, “I think it’ll be better if I show you.”

She walks off towards the bridge that leads to the boats and the rest follow her without question as they often do. 

She then takes a device from her backpack, a modified DR60 in a transparent case, hard plastic, probably as good as she would get with an underwater EVP recorder without actually creating something beyond the modifications Leo had made. He could probably ideate something that would work, but he also probably did not have the time for such a thing.

“Uhuh, I made this,” Leo says. 

“We have seen this before,” Jason agrees. 

“Gosh, just,” She takes the recorder out of its case, “Listen to the recording.”

Jason takes the DR60 and goes to play back on the thing before Piper holds out her hand in a “wait” gesture and takes a second device out of her backpack, this one a speaker.

She connects it to the EVP recorder and rolls her eyes at the others’ looks, “Better sound quality.”

Then Jason plays the recoding.

For a while, there’s nothing there, and Piper can see in the Leo and Jason’s faces how they’re expecting it to stay like this, maybe find some odd noise that can be explained easily. Hazel looks pleasant and eager, perhaps the most trustful that this whole meeting did, indeed entail an important find.

Then, there’s a voice, and although Piper has heard it at least ten times in the past day, she still leans forward with excitement.

“What’s your name?” The voice is feminine and clear, a commanding quality to it. 

“Piper.” This is Piper’s very own voice replying. 

“Daughter of whom?”

“Does it matter? They are nothing here.”

The recording then goes back to simply being the normal sounds of the marine life.

Piper looks expectantly at the people accompanying her, trying to discern their reactions.

“Yeah, I still don’t get it,” Jason finally says, bringing both other companions to nod along to him.

“I placed this underwater for maybe three hours,” Piper starts, “I left it there for maybe three hours and this is what I found when looked over the recording. This is not a conversation I’ve ever had.”

She sees Leo and Jason share a look somewhere between skepticism and excitement.

“You could have shown us this anywhere else,” Hazel suddenly says, curiosity bleeding from her every word, “Why are we here?”

Piper’s smile widens, if such a thing is even possible at this point, “I was hoping you’d ask that.”

She walks a bit further ahead, then points towards a spot at the corner of a boat where glowing circled tablets float.

“After I heard the recording, I decided I’d check out the water around the area where it was,” Her hands gesture wildly around her as she speaks, “You know, for any traces of the kind of stuff disappearing acts have. This is the second place where it’s actually worked, and it’s way stronger than in Katakolon.”

“This does look pretty solid,” Leo admits, and Piper resists the urge to give a smug huff at convincing the biggest skeptic of their group, “But it might be another dead end.”

Piper thinks of sleepless nights looking through books about Greek stories, of miles travelled in search for a single clue and hours spent analyzing prophecies made by women centuries later, likely while high. She thinks of maps leading nowhere, of riddles with no answers and of absolutely unrelated stories that had somehow made their way into the mess that was the obscure search for Circe’s Isle.

“It’s not,” Piper’s voice holds determination, “We’re close. I can feel it.”


	2. REYNA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, Reyna isn't supposed to share the ability, anyways, but when sixty six minutes have passed, what will be the last soul to walk through the church appears, and Reyna can very much see her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hewwo my tumblr is valzhangs wink wonk

Everything is quiet near the edge of the world.

Not in the literal sense. The sounds are there. There's the occasional howling of the wind when it picks up, the sound of water lightly hitting the port. There's the sounds of animals moving, or birds chirping and of leaves being blown over. But those sounds, they're quiet. They're meant to be there, they were placed there by no human force. 

Reyna Ávila Ramirez Arellano stands on the stone floor, so smooth its slippery from ages of being walked on before it was almost fully abandoned. The main entrance to the building she stands in is wide and lost its door sometime possibly decades ago, so you can just see the sea and have the breeze hit you from inside. The place was once a chapel, but according to Reyna's older sister, Hylla, no one has used it for long enough that no one will care if they just live there as they have, to some degree, for the past four years. 

Really, Reyna herself only lives there for the summer and winter break as she spends the rest of the time in Jupiter Academy's, as Hylla used to when she still attended. The older of the sisters dropped out during her senior year, though, shortly after turning eighteen, and went on to become Reyna's legal guardian after a lot of complicated deals with the school's owners. Reyna was fourteen at the time, and had the privilege of having her choice of who to stay with mean a whole lot to the jury. Even then, as much as she fought her sister to be as informed as possible, she's not entirely sure of everything that entailed allowing an eighteen year old to guardian her fourteen year old sister. She does know that Jupiter Academy's owners are rich and powerful enough for any shady deal they do to have a blind eye turned to it, and that her continued fully free attendance to the private school is somehow part of the deal. She doesn't yet know if she should feel flattered the school wanted her in their halls that badly. 

It doesn't matter, really, so long as she continues to get a place to stay aside from world's end.

The place where the sky meets the sea, that's the edge of Reyna's world, it's where everhthing ends. To dream of a world beyond that is outrageous when she's known nothing but Bornesse, Georgie for most of the time she can remember. Her native Puerto Rico is but a dim memory she can hardly access, as is everything in between then and Bornesse. 

Hylla clears her throat from her spot, where the chapel's altar used to be. It's now just filled with the pair's belongings, hastily arranged and ready to be picked up leaving no trace behind at any moment like they usually were. 

"We only have sixty seven minutes, you know," Hylla says after Reyna offers no response. 

"Right," The younger finally says and she brings herself over to her sister. 

The two take seats next to each other on the steps leading up to the altar, looking on to the hall that connects with the door-less entrance. Hylla puts her hand on Reyna's shoulder as the water from the sea visible seems to grow wilder, less forgiving. Hylla says the first name, 'Michael Yew' and Reyna quickly scribbles it on the notepad she's holding. 

At this point, the ritual is going just like every year. Hylla and herself sit in the church they lived in, waiting for Hylla to see the inflow of people to-be-dead, an ability they had discovered she possesed when she was just ten, Reyna being six, and they found the abandoned church that would eventually become their home. Hylla had managed to recall some of the things she'd learned from the time in-between Puerto Rico and Bornesse, and they'd found that the whole event lined up with the Night of Styx, when the souls of the associates and children of beings that called themselves gods who would die within the following year passed on to the next life. 

Sixty seven minutes of every year are spent there every year from then on, simply writing down the names of the elderly and young who's lives are doomed to end far too soon. 

Although Reyna doesn't share the ability to see these people, she amplifies Hylla's own sight, so she just stands beside her and does what she can to help. 

Well, Reyna isn't supposed to share the ability, anyways, but when sixty six minutes have passed, what will be the last soul to walk through the church appears, and Reyna can very much see her. 

She looks young, probably about Reyna's own age, her eyes are wide but determined and they focus on Reyna, who just lets out a shuddering breath. She is breathtakingly beautiful, in a subtle way, with choppy brown hair the color close to the owner's eyes and her eyebrows full and striking. 

"What is your name?" She manages to ask after a short pause, her voice far more confident than she is. 

"Piper." The girl, Piper, says. 

Reyna can see Hylla turning to her in bewilderment from the corner of her eye. 

"Daughter of whom?" She repeats what her older sister has been asking every poor soul that passes all night. 

"Does it matter? They are nothing here," The girl replies, then moves on and out of the path as the last minute ends. 

Reyna isn't sure of how much time passes with her just staring at the spot where Piper had disappeared before Hylla finally speaks up. 

"You could see her," It's a statement. 

Reyna nods. 

There's a quiet moment, then, "What does that mean?"

"I think..." Hylla purses her lips, something she so rarely does that Reyna's breath hitches at the sight, "She's either your true love, or you are the one who will kill her."

"Or both," Reyna points out, her mind suddenly filled with memories of a tall woman with red red lips and the kind of face that makes her appear ageless, or maybe just immortal. She cannot recall her name, although she's sure Hylla could help if she asked. 

"If you are to ever kiss your one true love," The memory speaks, her voice high and commanding, having some ethereal quality to it, "They will die."

"Or both," Hylla agrees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is not edited lmao


	3. JASON

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not edited lol. also special thanks to the riordanverse discord yall are great and encouraging

"Well, y'all sure are knee-deep in research, aren't you?" Jason hears from the door and his head snaps up to see Leo Valdez entering the building he lives in. 

Jason looks down at the stacks of books that they're supposed to be putting into place. They have piled over the past day as Piper decided to go through every source she has on Circe trying to find an answer, a followup to the clue they found. They only really reach his shins, but Jason still has to hold back a snort. 

Piper looks up from her spot on the bed and just frowns at Leo before going back at squinting at the book with too small letters and too curved writing. 

"Hi, Leo! Are you here to join in hiding the madness?" Comes from the side, and Jason turns to see Hazel standing just outside the door to her room, which he assumes she just walked out of. 

Leo snorts and steps inside, "I sure am." 

Piper finally properly looks up from the book Jason is sure she'd barely been able to read, and looks around as her face pales a little. 

"What time is it?" She asks. 

"Three forty two," Jason and Hazel say at the same time. 

Piper curses and hops off the bed quickly, grabbing the book in hand and the pile nearest to her. 

"Well, let's go! They'll get here at four." Piper says as she starts placing the books in the only shelf in the place. 

Immediatly, as if prompted by a higher source, the three others jump into action and start clearing the floor. 

Soon, all the books are back in the shelf, and the place looks at its cleanest. Which isn't saying a lot, really, as even at its cleanest the building that was once Wilderness Inc. and is now somehow owned by Piper looks awfully messy. 

Jason remembers the first time he entered the place, the feeling of having entered a whole other realm. It looks almost exactly the same right now. The entrance leads to what is basically Piper's room, while also simultaneously serving as a study, a kitchen and a bathroom. Her bed, which can barely even be called a bed given that it's just a mattress, lies in the middle of the room, hastily done and still looking like it's not slept in, probably because Piper rarely sleeps. There's a desk to the side that looks too clean, everything on it untouched. What really serves as a desk is Piper's mattress, so Jason still can't understand why the real desk exists. The space between the mattress and where the kitchen isle is empty, although usually it's filled with paper, or clothes, or both. And the kitchen itself looks like someone put it in a blender with the bathroom and just decided to leave it there. 

The walls, though, that's where Piper's soul is laid bare. They are filled with pictures of places the girl has visited in her search, notes telling of what she found and poems and sonnets by old greeks that talk of the story of Circe. There's a picture of her mother there, too, but Jason hasn't dared ask why. A map of the US takes up almost all of the left side's wall, and it's covered in purple scribbles and red pins. 

The place looks as Piper Mclean as Piper herself, but during the times her family visits part of it is tucked away. 

Jason can understand that, a bit, and although he's sure she doesn't care nearly as much about Drew's or Silena's approval as he does Thalia's, she certainly cares for her father's, and she fears he might ask her to leave her search if he discovers how far gone in it she is. 

A knock comes from the door to Wilderness Inc. and Piper goes to open it. 

In steps not Drew and Silena, to Jason's surprise, but instead a pair that he's never seen before. One look at Leo tells him he's just as confused.

"Pipes!" The girl at the door practically jumps on Piper, despite them being about the same height. Her blonde pigtails bounce a bit and the boy she's with just awkwardly stands back with his hands in his pockets. 

Piper gestures for them to come inside and the pair is followed by a tall woman with sharp features and dark hair. 

"This is Piper, our sister!" The blonde girl enthusiastically says. 

"Yes, Mitchell and Lacy have told me loads about you. I'm Janice, their guardian." The woman's voice is toneless, the statement holds no real meaning behind it. After receiving no answer, she continues, "You live here... alone?" 

Piper shakes her head, and she has that placid, almost fake smile on her face she often does with adults, "No, these are actually my rommates, Jason and Hazel." 

For the first time since Piper's siblings arrived, Jason and Hazel are acknowledged. 

"Leo doesn't live here." Leo waves at that. 

Janice nods, "Very well, but that's not quite what I meant. What about your father? Where is he?" 

Piper gives a surprised look like she hadn't realized this, although Jason knows she had. She says that he is in California and giver her usual Nosy Adult lie, about how Atlas Institute was so very good and she'd been sent to Bornesse to study there. 

The girl steps forward and extends her hand, "Lacy." 

It's Hazel who shakes her hand, but immediately after, Lacy rubs her hands together. 

"Your hands are very cold." She says. 

"They've been like that ever since I died." Replies Hazel, then both girls giggle. Jason wonders if this is what all fourteen year old (which is the age he estimates for both of them, although he knows neither for sure) girls' humor is like. 

The boy gives a salute from where he's standing and says his name is Mitchell. 

"We're having dinner tomorrow, right?" Asks Lacy. 

Piper nods, "Of course. You can stay here tonight, if you want." 

"We already have a room at the inn, thank you," Janice interjects, then she pulls Mitchell and Lacy out the door. 

Piper stares after the closed door with an expression Jason can't decipher, then turns back to the rest of them. 

"Well, it looks like we're going to dinner tomorrow, so how about we use tonight to look through the docks again?" 

Jason shrugs, not really seeing a reason not to go, then as all of them nod their assent she walks out the door. 

Before Leo can leave after her, Jason remembers something and stops him. 

" Hey, actually, I don't know where you live?" Jason tells him. 

Leo stares at him like he's spoken in another language for a second. 

Then two. 

Then, "Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?" 

Jason must make some kind of expression, because Leo just laughs and runs after Piper 

He frowns to himself, "Weather boy?" 

From his left, Hazel gives a shrug, as if to say 'What do I know?'. But something in her expression, or maybe just her eyes, tells him she knows more than he does. 

Before he can ask anything, she's out the door as well, leaving Jason as the only one inside Wilderness. 

He gives a sigh and steps out as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are always appreciated!!


	4. REYNA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She scoffs and shakes her head, "You're all the same."
> 
> Atlas Girl frowns, "What's your deal?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please disregard the timeline ik it makes zero sense

Out of her three jobs, the pizza place is the one she likes the least.

It's not that there's anything wrong with the pizzeria itself, in fact, the owner is the nicest out of the people she works for, the pizza is actually good and her coworkers are generally cool. No, the problem lies with the people that visit it.

Eros' Pizza is situated an exact thirteen minutes away from Atlas Institute, so the place is filled with Atlas students as soon as school is over for the day and the idiots don't want to be stuffed in their dorms all day. They're all stupid and disrespectful and so entitled the second they step in, their lack of regard for anyone who works there clear. She hates them.

Reyna isn't blind, of course, she realizes Jupiter Academy students are just as bad. But in Jupiter, she's one of them, and they don't treat her like the dirt beneath their feet. They know better.

In Eros' she's "just the waitress", and as if that somehow made her any less of a person they immediately start treating her as such. Also, Atlas idiots are just that: idiots. She's seen their games before, and they're so uncoordinated and reckless she wants to scream. Especially when they win.

So, really, if there is any rule Reyna lives by, it's to stay away from Atlas students, lest she be collateral damage. Not that she cozies up to people much, anyways.

It's five minutes before her shift ends on a Monday that one of them approaches her, still wearing the school's uniform despite it being six in the afternoon.

The Atlas girl in question looks vaguely familiar to Reyna, but she can't quite pinpoint why.

"Hey, so my friend over there," The girl starts as she gets to where Reyna is standing, gesturing to the table she had come from, "is a bit shy, but he's been staring at you for about half an hour, so like, maybe you could put him out of his misery and come over?"

It is then that Reyna really looks at the table she's been pointing to, and finds Jason Grace (who's also wearing the damned uniform) sitting there, his head buried in his hands. There are two other people with him, one a curly haired who's laughing as he looks on, patting Jason on the back, and the other a dark skinned girl with a grin on her face that looks somewhere between amused and sympathetic. She's the only one who doesn't wear Atlas Institute's colors, instead sporting a purple t-shirt, although Reyna is unsure of if she is old enough to even attend.

She frowns.

"You think this is funny, don't you?"

Jason Grace and herself had been partners in just about every competition Jupiter held, often beating Atlas and other equally regarded schools together. After he for some reason decided to switch to the institute, every Atlas idiot who decided to actually talk to her did so purely to ask about Jason. Or to give her some mildly passive agressive comment over the fact that the boy had completely ceased to talk to her after leaving Jupiter Academy. And, really, it was none of their business but she would likely get fired if she were to punch a customer. Not that she would loose control like that. Maybe if she told herself she didn't care for Jason Grace at all, then she wouldn't.

The Atlas girl tilts her head to the side, like she's trying to figure out a puzzle, "Huh?"

Reyna feels her annoyance grow. Is she seriously going to pretend that wasn't intentional?

She scoffs and shakes her head, "You're all the same."

Atlas Girl frowns, "What's your deal?"

Reyna just rolls her eyes and walks away, hoping her boss won't care for those last three minutes since she's most certainly not sticking around for them.

She grabs the bike leaning against the wall outside and goes off, and although she should be heading north, towards Jupiter's dorms, she heads the opposite way to get to the church, and her sister.

When she gets there, Hylla stands just in front of the entrance, her closed eyes not opening when she greets her.

"What are you doing?" Reyna asks.

"Existing." Hylla replies, and that's that.

Reyna goes to the computer Hylla and herself share and starts working on the homework she hasn't done yet. It's a while before either of them speak again.

"I'll drive you tomorrow morning." Hylla breaks the silence.

Reyna looks over at her, "You don't have a car."

"On my bike."

"I can bike myself?"

"I'm a faster biker," Hylla points out.

"Not with me on the back you aren't," Reyna counters.

The older of the two huffs, "Alright, but try not to be late for first period."

"Oh, that's rich-"

The Ramirez cellphone starts ringing then and their conversation is interrupted.

Hylla goes to answer and Reyna sits in silence.

"Uhuh," Is spoken into the phone, "I only do readings Fridays and weekends."

After not finishing highschool, Hylla continued on with the business she had started from her dorms in Jupiter Academy: psychic readings. Whatever it was that allowed her to see the people walk through the church during the Night of Styx also gave Hylla some sort of psychic ability that rich kids were obsessed with enough to pay obscene amounts of money for. Unfortunately, although the people of Bornesse only ever came to Hylla for readings, they weren't really many, and the ordeal wasn't enough to truly support the Puerto Rican sisters, so Hylla also got a job at the only big grocery store around and moved her psychic readings to a weekend activity.

"Okay, so who is this for?" Immediately after, Hylla's head snaps up and she stares at Reyna, "So, reading for Piper Mclean on Friday at 5pm, yes?"

Reyna can feel her own heartbeat as she watches Hylla hang up.

"So?" She says after Hylla fails to comment anything.

"_So_?" Replies Hylla.

"What did she sound like?"

"I don't know.... nervous," Hylla shrugs, "Nice enough voice, she probably sings."

She purses her lips.

"You'll meet her Friday," Hylla continues, "Right?"

Reyna nods, "Of course. I'll be here."   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments are appreciated uwu


	5. LEO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hello," A woman greets at the entrance, "step in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmmm im sorry for the delay, this was hard to write bc writers block

It's Jason who suggests the psychic, after days upon days of looking through the port after school and getting no results.

Leo still isn't sure of how much of a good idea this is, although this is mainly to do with the fact that he doesn't quite believe in the psychic's legitimacy. He says so to Piper, but she just rolls her eyes and tells him this it's hardly the most unbelievable thing they deal with. The thing is, no one is possibly making money out of their belief with any of the other things. He doesn't say this, though, he just shrugs and relents.

Hazel is nowhere to be found as they leave Wilderness to go to the location Piper had been given, but this comes as no surprise, as it's not uncommon for her to just be MIA for a couple of hours. He would be more concerned about their lack of knowledge abouy the youngest member of their group if he didn't realize how hypocritical that would be.

Jason is at the wheel, as usual, when they head towards the edge of Bornesse, where the supposed psychic had said to meet her.

Leo is a bit more inclined to believe in her once they get to the place.

It's a church, he thinks, or it was once at least. It's painted in a faint beige color with red detailing and rock floors that look almost slippery from being to worn. The door is of a dark wood, and it looks too rundown for it to still be standing. It also looks like a back door, he notices with surprise. It's the only construction from miles, and from the plants grown on its walls, looking ready to swallow it up, it might have been made by the Earth itself. Behind it is the sea, and for once Leo doesn't feel disdain at its sandless prescence.

"Hello." A woman greets at the entrance, "Step in."

She is unlike what Leo expected. Her gaze is piercing and analytical, almost distrusting. She is also clearly only speaking to Piper with the greeting. Her tone is hard and decisive, somehow achieving a commanding air to it in just one phrase. She lacks the airy prescence Leo has seen most fake psychics try to use to make them seem more ethereal, but she doesn't need it, as it is Leo is sure she could have the world at her feet if she wished.

She asks them to step in and leads them to what once was the way to the altar, Leo is sure. Although he knows this is a church, he has trouble reconciliating the idea with what he sees, for the bare walls and simple windows look nothing like the church he remembers going to once when he was younger and less worn out, hand clasped in his mother's.

As she gets there, she calls out a name and sits down behind a stack of tarot cards, looking over to them expectantly. Piper is the first to move forward, but she freezes as another girl walks in. It's the girl from Eros'. Leo tries to hide his laughter.

"Hey, I didn't really get a chance to introduce myself last time, I'm Piper Mclean." Piper extends her hand for the girl to shake, which she does hesitantly, her eyes filling with a realization that Leo can't find a source to.

"Reyna," The girl starts to introduce herself, "Ramirez."

"And I'm Leo, bla bla, let's get to it, yeah?" Leo butts in.

Every pair of eyes in the room turns to look at him, and for a second he feels lile he can't breathe, but soon they all look away and settle into the space the psychic had prepared for them.

"So," The psychic lady says.

"So," Piper replies, then proceeds to scrunch up her face. "What am I thinking?"

Leo snorts into his hand as he watched the psychic's face be filled with annoyance, as well as Reyna Ramirez's.

"She's not a _mind reader_ so if that's what you're here for you might as well leave." It's Reyna who speaks.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood," Piper's tone sounds almost unsure, although Leo wouldn't think that's an emotion she's capable of feeling. Uncertainty. "I- we're- not here for a reading. We just wanted to ask about something you might know of, Hylla."

Hylla, the psychic, simply stares as it appears she is waiting for Piper to continue.

"How do we know you're legit?" Leo asks, surprising himself. Piper looks at him with a puzzled expression.

Hylla, however, looks completely unbothered, "There's someone close to you, maybe a sibling, who got you to delay something. Now you're afraid you won't have a choice in doing this something."

"I don't have any siblings," Leo says, but he feels his gaze being drawn to Piper still.

He tries not to show it, but he knows exactly what she's talking about. Leo Valdez knows not to get attached. Not to places, not to circumstances and most certainly not to people. He's usually gone before a year has passed by, never sticks around for long, so really, it's never too hard to stay without connections. It shouldn't be, anyways.

Then Piper Mclean came into the picture.

He didn't even meant to talk to her, ever. Everyone attending Atlas Institute knew her name, which meant they would know his name by association if it were ever to be known he held a conversation with her, and that was one of those things that simply ruined the opportunity to come and go unnoticed.

But then he saw her one day standing in the middle of the road, glaring at her car with ferocity as he biked beside her. And their eyes locked. And he stopped to help her. This was his mistake. She was very different from what he expected. The thing about Piper Mclean was that she was rich. Like, filthy rich. And, sure, they went to private school together so everyone was rich but Atlas Institute was probably as not-rich as private schools got, and Piper Mclean was as rich as you got there, so he'd always just assumed that was why she was so well-liked. It only took the conversation they mantained during the maybe fifteen minutes he spent on checking out her car to realize how utterly wrong he was. Piper was kind, and funny, and entertaining to listen to as she recounted some story about a lost poodle and a wild hunt for it. She even laughed at his jokes!

After he was done with the car, he was ready to say goodbye and completely forget about the whole conversation, maybe regret it later. Piper didn't give him a chance.

"What do you know about old greek legends?" She asked, a careful look on her face.

And so, Leo now spends his free time looking for clues, links, meanings in meaningless text, all too look for some mythical isle Piper is set on finding. He doesn't know how to feel about it, other than trapped and maybe a little bit resentful. (Maybe a bit hopeful too.)

He is pulled back to the present by Jason's voice.

"That's true for everyone, though, isn't it?" Looking over, Leo realizes that Jason appears shaken, rattled. "Everyone makes choices, delays things, does them, and sometimes we take people's advice for those things, and sometimes we're afraid we were wrong to do so."

"You," Hylla starts, "Have forgotten something, Jason Grace. Something very big, or many small things. And you've told many that you've forgotten, but they all tell you there' s nothing to be worried about remembering. That it's normal. You know they're lying."

Jason's face is ashen, and instead of replying he runs out of the church. Leo sees Piper start going after him but stops her with a hand on her shoulder.

"You ask your questions," He says. "I'll see you in like five minutes, he can't have gone far."

And he walks out of the church. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pretty pls tell me what you thought of this!!

**Author's Note:**

> comments are appreciated!


End file.
